NFL scraps traditional AFC-NFC Pro Bowl format

Unwisely taking a page from the NHL All-Star Game, the National Football League announced today that it will further cheapen its annual Pro Bowl by scrapping the AFC vs. NFC format adapted in 1971.

Players will be selected without regard to conference in voting by fans, coaches and players. Deion Sanders and Jerry Rice will serve as alumni team captains for the teams.

The league is crediting (read: blaming) NFL Players Association president Domonique Foxworth for the idea. Players will be assigned to teams through the Pro Bowl Draft, in which two leading vote getters will join two NFL.com fantasy football champions — who will attend the Pro Bowl — to draft players.

“As players, we wanted to keep the Pro Bowl to honor excellence in individual performance and connect with the fans in a different environment,” Foxworth said. “To do that, I worked with a group of players to map out new ideas.”

It is similar to what the NHL adopted a couple of years back, and it’s hard to imagine a more meaningless game than what the hockey players put on annually.

The Pro Bowl draft will air Wednesday, Jan. 22, on the NFL Network. Players will practice with their teams on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The coaching staffs will be from the losing teams in the AFC and NFC Divisional playoffs with the best regular-season record.

The game will take place Sunday, Jan. 26, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii, and will be televised by NBC and broadcast by Dial Global radio.

Other changes:

Game within the Game: A two-minute warning will be added to the first and third quarters and the ball will change hands after each quarter. This will increase the opportunities for quarterbacks to direct “two-minute drills,” which are especially exciting for fans.

No Kickoffs: The coin toss will determine which team is awarded possession first. The ball will be placed on the 25-yard line at the start of each quarter and after scoring plays.

Rosters: The rosters will continue to consist of 43 players per squad. The kick return specialist will be replaced by an additional defensive back.

Cover Two and Press Coverage: The defense will be permitted to play “cover two” and “press” coverage. In previous years, only “man” coverage was permitted, except for goal line situations.

Stopping of the Game Clock: Beginning at the two-minute mark of every quarter, if the offense does not gain at least one yard, the clock will stop as if the play were an incomplete pass. This rule will make the team with the ball attempt to gain yardage toward the end of each quarter.

Game Timing: The game clock will start after an incomplete pass on the signal of the referee, except inside the last two minutes of the first half and the last five minutes of the second half.

Play Clock: A 35-second/25-second play clock will be adopted instead of the typical 40-second/25-second clock.

Sacks: The game clock will not stop on quarterback sacks outside of the final two minutes of the game. Currently, the game clock stops in these situations outside of two minutes of the second and fourth quarters.